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Lanie Parish
Lanie-S6-1
Vital Statistics
Title Dr.
Gender Female
Status Alive
Occupation Medical Examiner
Forensics Analyst
Significant
Other(s)
Javier Esposito (boyfriend, on & off)
Parents Walter Parish (father)
Melinda Parish (mother)
Character Information
Appearances List of Appearances
Portrayed by Tamala Jones

Lanie Parish is one of the medical examiners and forensics analysts for the NYPD. She is portrayed by Tamala Jones.

History[]

Early Life[]

Lanie was born to Walter and Melinda Parish. It is unknown if she is from Louisiana like her parents or New York.

Not much is known about Lanie's past, other than the fact that she did her residency at Saint Samuel's Hospital, under Toby Lang. As a child, Lanie wanted to be a prima ballerina when she grew up until "the girls" (her breasts) showed up when she was 13. ("A Dance With Death")

According to Esposito, Lanie hates her mother and probably does not see her often. ("Setup")

Season One[]

LaRi

From the beginning, it is evident that Lanie and Kate are very good and close friends. She is one of the few people Beckett can talk to easily and without reservations. She tries to get Beckett a social life and always seems eager to hook Beckett up on dates.

When she meets Richard Castle, she introduces herself as a fan of Castle's work and is later impressed by his adequate knowledge of medical terminologies.

Lanie is among the first people to notice their compatibility and often urges Beckett to act on it, no matter how much the latter denies the attraction. Lanie insists that she needs Castle in her life for a fun change.

Lanie is often amused by Castle's presence and theories in the crime scenes and the morgue, although there are also times when Castle would go too far with his puns and Lanie would just give him a disapproving look.

In "Home Is Where the Heart Stops", Lanie helps Beckett choose a dress for the event she will be attending with Castle. Lanie makes fun of Kate's dresses a way a girlfriend typically would.

Season Two[]

Lae

"Quit lookin' at the girls, Castle."

After Kate disclosed to Lanie that Castle opened up her mother's case file, Lanie sided with Kate, knowing how this affected her best friend, and acted hostile towards Castle, not knowing that Castle found something new regarding the case. When Castle tells her what his medical examiner friend, Clark Murray, found though, she hesitates and begins to see Castle's actions in a different light.

LSP

In "The Double Down", Lanie shows up at the crime scene in a dress that gets Castle staring at her. Beckett jokes about her change in uniform, and she counters by saying that unlike Kate, she doesn't just sit around all night waiting for victims, implying that she was on a date that night. This is also the first time we see Lanie working with Sidney Perlmutter, another medical examiner in the city. They were originally working the two separate murder cases that Beckett and Castle, and Ryan and Esposito were investigating in separate pairs. When they see a similarity in their victims, they work together and call on the two teams of investigators to work together as well.

After Castle, New York Ledger's ninth top eligible bachelor, gets a date with the third top bachelorette, Kate finally agrees to Lanie's fixing games. She sets her up with her firefighting friend Brad Dekker, though the date does not work out.

Season Three[]

In "Poof! You're Dead", she and Esposito started dating by sleeping together and tried to keep it secret, especially since their cover was almost blown when Esposito walked in the morgue and Lanie covered it up, but Beckett, Castle and Ryan already knew.

In "To Love and Die in L.A.", she came in the morgue to find Esposito behind the door and the two were shocked to see the bullets were dissolving.

Season Four[]

In "Pandora", we find out that Lanie had taken Castle's daughter Alexis in as her intern.

She and Detective Javier Esposito had a 'secret' relationship for a while, although in reality most of the other detectives knew about it before they even mentioned it. However, she broke it off after a failed double date with Kevin Ryan and his fiancée. She took Doctor Toby Lang to Ryan's wedding, making Esposito extremely jealous, until she told him at the wedding that Toby had a boyfriend and he was only accompanying her, so she had someone to dance with.[1]

When Beckett confides in her in "The Limey" about the strange way Castle has been acting around her, Lanie tells her that it has been weird for the past four years they've been together. She opens Beckett's eye and tries to make her realize how Castle really feels for her and that she should finally make a move and tell him how she feels before Castle continues to pull away and it's too late. She later doubles back though when they see Castle arrive at the crime scene with a girl.

Personality[]

Lanie is a very sassy, outspoken person who tends to say what she wants, sometimes with that hint of humorous sarcasm, or that feisty attitude men love. She is also shown to be quite outgoing and socially active. She is also evidently a good friend and is always there for Beckett when she needs one, often supporting her either against or for Castle. Also, with her years of experience, she has proven to be very smart and quick with her preliminary results, proving very useful especially for the strange cases she and Beckett's team have ever encountered. Lanie also always double checks and never overlooks even the little details that would help the case. She believes that there's nothing wrong with dating someone you work with (hinting Esposito).

Also, since Lanie works in the morgue, she has to stay with several stored corpses which she does not seem to mind. However, she later notes during a group date with Jenny, Ryan and Esposito that since she's around the dead at work, she wants a live one at home, referring to Espo who is sometimes already fast asleep when she comes home to him. During one conversation with Beckett, she also seems to have put more thought into the deceased she looks after, saying that the people in their containers have had once dreams when they were living that they could no longer fulfill, so they should make the most out of their decisions while they're still alive.

Relationships[]

Friends[]

Kate Beckett

Kate and Lanie have been best friends and colleagues forever, especially since Lanie gives Beckett advice about her relationship with Castle or what to wear. Beckett even asked her to be her maid of honor.

Richard Castle

Lanie met Castle at the third crime scene that was created by copycat killer of his books and is a big fan of his books. She likes him, and approves of him for her best friend. She generally enjoys watching the two of them solve cases by seeming telepathy. Lanie was offended when Richard and Kate effectively eloped, but got over it quite quickly.

Kevin Ryan

There's not much about the two, but Lanie once called Ryan by his first name. Plus, she noticed he was sneezing due to his allergy. She trusted him enough to have him run a background check on a possible boyfriend.

Jenny Ryan

Lanie first met Jenny when she, Jenny, Esposito and Ryan went on a double date. When Jenny went into labor while both their men were trapped in a burning building, Lanie stood by her side until Esposito and Ryan got out alive!

Romance[]

More about Esposito and Lanie here and Esplanie Wiki

Javier Esposito

She and Esposito are not only colleagues, but also dating. They often see each other for booty calls. Most often, she usually gives him a deadly glare. They are usually an on/off couple. They try to keep it secret. They spend Valentine's Day together twice. They seem pretty shocked when two murdered victims look a lot like them. They even got worried if one of them is in danger. Since their friend got kidnapped and vanished for two months, they gotten closer and closer. So far, they're always there for each other.

Trivia[]

  • Lanie's book counterpart in the Nikki Heat series is Lauren Parry. She told Castle in "Tick, Tick, Tick…" that she would want to have Halle Berry play her in the movie adaptation of Heat Wave.
  • In "One Life to Lose", Beckett states that Lanie likes diamonds.
  • In "Disciple", Lanie is revealed to have a tattoo on her upper thigh that means "Inner Strength" which she had for three months. 
  • She loves French restaurants and learning French, as seen in "Reality Star Struck".
  • Lanie has known of Beckett's feelings for Castle since "A Rose for Everafter", in which she said to Beckett regarding the return of Castle's ex-girlfriend Kyra, "Honey, just because you can't see what's going on, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't see what's going on!".
  • Lanie is a fan of Temptation Lane, like Beckett.
  • According to Esposito in "Disciple", Lanie has a two-drink limit.
  • Lanie's parents are nagging her about the fact that she isn't married, much to her annoyance.

Image gallery[]

Notes and References[]

  1. Episode 4x11 "Till Death Do Us Part"

External Links[]

CASTLEe  
Cast Nathan FillionStana KaticJon HuertasSeamus DeverTamala JonesRuben Santiago-HudsonMolly C. QuinnSusan SullivanPenny Johnson Jerald
Characters Richard CastleKate BeckettJavier EspositoKevin RyanLanie ParishRoy MontgomeryAlexis CastleMartha RodgersVictoria Gates
Seasons 1   •   2   •   3   •   4   •   5   •   6   •   7   •   8
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